Messenger No. 127 (March 1970)

The Organisation

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127....2CSection:
The OrganisationAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Cesarsky, C.
AA(ESO Director General)Abstract:
At ESO, we will all remember 2006 as the year of the birth of the E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope). The ges-tation period has been quite long. Astron-omers have been discussing for many years the wondrous scientific programmes they hoped to conduct with an ELT. I re-member the enthusiasm of scientists who gathered in the first workshops organised by OPTICON, in Edinburgh in 2000, fol-lowed by the two-week-long Leiden meet-ing in 2001. These were followed by a number of meetings and workshops, one of them in conjunction with “Exploring the cosmic frontier”, in Berlin in May 2004, which prefigured the science vision dis-cussions our community is now having in the framework of ASTRONET. An im-portant point about these discussions is that many of them were shared with our colleagues from across the Atlantic. A worldwide meeting took place as an IAU Symposium, in Cape Town in November 2005. Also in 2005, under the leadership of Isobel Hook, the first European ELT science case appeared, in the form of a short and well-illustrated document geared to decision makers followed by a lengthy volume for astronomers.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127....3.Section:
The OrganisationAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)Abstract:
The ESO Council has appointed Tim de Zeeuw, as the next Director General of ESO effective as of 1 September 2007, when the current Director General, Catherine Cesarsky, will complete her mandate.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127....4BSection:
The OrganisationAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Barcons, X.
AA(Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Santander & Ministry of Education and Science, Spain)Abstract:
Spanish astronomy has grown in a spectacular way over the last few decades. Spain hosts world-class astronomical facilities, and its astronomers publish over 5% of all papers in this discipline. As an ESO member, Spain joins forces to pursue the most ambitious projects in European ground-based astronomy.

Telescopes and Instrumentation

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...11GSection:
Telescopes and InstrumentationAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Gilmozzi, R.; Spyromilio, J.
AA(ESO) AB(ESO)Abstract:
The ESO Council has authorised the E-ELT project to move to Phase B and approved the budget for the further design of the telescope and its instrumentation. In this article we present the activities and design concepts considered in the past year leading up to the decision of Council.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...20MSection:
Telescopes and InstrumentationAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Monnet, G.; Hook, I.; Cuby, J.-G.
AA(ESO) AB(University of Oxford, United Kingdom) AC(Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille)Abstract:
As a prelude to the decision by the ESO Council to approve the detailed studies (Phase B) for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project, a meet-ing was held in Marseille to comprehensively present and discuss the extensive planning for this exciting project. The conference was attended by 250 astron-omers and engineers (see the confer-ence photograph in Figure 1). The strong support, together with detailed considerations and feedback from the community provided by this meeting were instru-mental in the ESO Council decision a few days later. They will be further harnessed in the years to come. There were three sessions, devoted to science (1.5 days), the telescope design (1.5 days) and in-strumentation (1 day). In the following arti-cles, a summary of each session and the list of speakers and posters is presented, by the chairs of the three sessions: Isobel Hook, Guy Monnet and Jean-Gabriel Cuby.References:
Alibert Y. et al. 2005, A&A 434, 343Donati J.-F. 2001, in “Magnetic fields across theHertzsprung-Russell diagram.”, ASP Conf Ser. 248, 563Förster Schreiber N. M. et al. 2006, ApJ 645, 1062Genzel R. et al. 2006, Nature 442, 786Hook I. 2005a, The Messenger 121, 2Hook I. (ed.) 2005b, The Science case for a50–100-m telescope, OPTICONMordasini C. et al. 2007, in prep.Nesvadba N. P. H. et al. 2006, ApJ 650, 661Peacock J. A. and Schneider P. 2006, FundamentalCosmology,ESA-ESO Working Groups Report,http://www.stecf.org/coordination/esa_eso/wg.php?working_group=cosmology

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...49DSection:
Astronomical ScienceAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Danziger, J.; Bouchet, P.
AA(INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Italy) AB(Observatoire de Paris, France)Abstract:
We first try to capture some of the response at ESO La Silla to the announcement of a bright supernova in the LMC - the excitement, the planning, and the discussion. Some of this was a result of the growing realisation that we were confronted with a unique event whose special aspects we describe. We conclude with very brief descriptions of the role of ESO astronomers in trying to unravel some of the mysteries in competition and collaboration with other observatories.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...67BSection:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Barrientos, F.; Nagar, N.; Mirabel, F.
AA(Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) AB(Grupo de Astronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Chile) AC(ESO)Abstract:
The interferometry school in the epoch of ALMA and VLTI (www.astro.puc.cl/school) was held at the campus of the Universidad Católica de Chile, in Santiago, during 4–8 December 2006. This FONDAP Center for Astrophysics school was organised jointly by Pontificia Uni-versidad Católica de Chile, Universidad de Concepción, ESO, ALMA, the Na-tional Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the U.S. Naval Research Labo-ratory (NRL) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG).

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...68GSection:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Gieren, W.; Zoccali, M.; Saviane, I.; Méndez, R.; Pietrzynski, G.
AA(Universidad de Concepción, Chile) AB(Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile) AC(ESO) AD(Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile) AE(Universidad de Concepción, Chile)Abstract:
During the second week of January 2007, the third Chilean Advanced School of As-trophysics was held at the Universidad de Concepción, the third-largest university in Chile, on “Insights into Galaxy Evolution from Resolved Stellar Populations”. This school, targeted at Ph.D. students main- ly from Chile and South America, but also open to students from other countries, was organised in the framework of the Chilean FONDAP Center of Astrophysics which includes astronomers of the two largest universities in Santiago and the Universidad de Concepción. The school focused on a field of research which is very well represented in the Center. Addi-tional support was kindly offered by the ALMA Committee, ESO Chile, the Católi-ca and Concepción universities, and the Sociedad Chilena de Astronomía.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...69BSection:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
Boffin, H.; Madsen, C.
AA(ESO) AB(ESO)Abstract:
The great variety of new distribution meth-ods and tools available does not replace face-to-face communication, which re-mains a most valuable activity in presenting ESO and its future needs. Face-to-face communication, in turn, takes many forms ranging from formal lectures and speeches, through less formal and infor-mal meetings and briefings, e.g. with de-cision makers or media representatives, to information stands at fairs and confer-ences. Information stands often provide a physical basis for important personal encounters. In 2006, ESO’s Public Affairs Department organised or participated in more than 20 events, involving exhibitions, briefings and VIP visits. This con-stitutes a marked increase over the pre-vious years, on the one hand reflecting the growing importance and visibility of ESO, and, on the other hand, a necessity, given the need to enlist wide support for ESO’s ambitious future projects.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...70.Section:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)Abstract:
The goal is to bring together two com-munitites: one working on star formation (mostly Galactic) and the other working on the formation of young massive clus-ters (mostly extragalactic). We will link Galactic with extragalactic work, optical/NIR techniques with sub-mm/mm/radio ones, the formation of stars with that of massive star clusters and observations with theory. Views will be exchanged on topics such as the earliest phases of star and star cluster formation, ultracompact and ultradense Hii regions, embedded massive stars and star clusters, stages at which stars and clusters emerge in the NIR and the optical, and culminating with young massive clusters observed in star-bursts.

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...71.Section:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)Abstract:
Optical interferometry is a new technolo-gy enabling observations at visible and infrared wavelengths with an angular res-olution an order of magnitude larger than that achieved by the largest single telescopes currently available. Europe has achieved world leadership in this field with the ESO Very Large Telescope Inter-ferometer (VLTI). This science machine will pay a central role in understanding the lifecycles of stars in the Milky Way; the discovery and characterisation of plan-ets orbiting stars in the Solar Neighbour-hood, and the understanding of the energy conversion mechanisms in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN).

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127...72.Section:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)Abstract:
The ESO research student programme aims at providing opportunities to en-hance the Ph.D. programmes of ESO member-state universities. Its goal is to bring young scientists into close con- tact with the activities and people at one of the world’s foremost observatories. For more information about ESO’s astro-nomical research activities please con-sult http://www.eso.org/science/

ADS BibCode:2007Msngr.127Q..75.Section:
Astronomical NewsAuthor(s)/Affiliation(s):
ESO
AA(ESO)Abstract:
It is an honour and a challenge to take up the editorship of the Messenger at this time of ESO’s expanding role in European and worldwide astronomy. In order to mark the change, we have made a few adjustments to the appearance without departing from the overall style that Peter Shaver had evolved during his term as editor. I would like to thank Peter for gen-tly coaching me into the position and Jutta Boxheimer, the technical editor, for the high quality of the layout.